Carolina Posts collaborate for veteran

SAME Carolina Midlands, Charleston, Coastal Carolina and Fort Bragg Posts teamed up to renovate the home of Sgt. Kelvin Woods, a wounded veteran in Gastonia, N.C.

The project started when Cindy Zwolensky, Business Development Coordinator and Treasurer, Carolina Midlands Post, received a call for help from the Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) about Sgt. Kelvin Woods. The 40-year old disabled veteran served in the Army for 21 years as a motor transport specialist and was in need to make his home wheelchair accessible.

Due to the scope of the project, Zwolensky reached out to other Carolina Regional posts and soon enough construction was started and made possible by hardworking members of the Carolina Midlands, Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Fort Bragg Posts and community volunteers.

Sgt. Kelvin Woods’ home needed accessibility in the master bedroom and master bathroom. The bathroom fixtures were relocated so a door could be put in to provide an egress to the outside deck. A lift was installed on the deck to be able to lower him to a new sidewalk that goes to the front driveway. The sidewalk was built by Edifice General Contractors, a commercial contractor in Charlotte, N.C.

The Posts only had a budget of $6,000 but Edifice Vice President Brad Edwards garnered approximately $20,000 in materials and labor donations from the 145th Civil Engineering Squadron and 245th Civil Enginering Flight of the North Carolina Air National Guard. Stewart Cooper Newell Architects and volunteers from the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte also provided much needed assistance to complete the project.

Sgt. Kelvin Woods moved into his newly renovated and accessible home on October 1, 2012.